Official records తగలబెట్టడం a new trend in ఆంధ్ర Pradesh ?

[andhra_jp]

On July 21 (Sunday), around midnight, the peace and quiet of Madanapalle town in Annamayya district was shattered by a huge fire that engulfed the district sub-collector office. The fire’s crimson hue that lit the dark skies could be seen from a radius of about 2 km.

The fire reportedly started in the record rooms of the office where documents relating to land records were stored and as per the initial official assessment, the building suffered extensive damage and important documents relating to land holdings and land allocation pertaining to the Madanapalle Revenue Division were gutted.

The ruling NDA government took no time to allege the earlier ruling YSRCP for the fire mishap and as per the initial investigation by the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (APCID) and the Revenue officials, the land documents pertaining to land acquisitions and allocations made during the last few years, especially those related to the hundreds of acres of 22-A and assigned lands in Thamballapalle, Madanapalle, Punganur, and Piler Assembly constituencies under the Madanapalle Revenue Division, were gutted in the fire.

It is also reported that some crucial land records pertaining to the irrigation projects and land acquisition for National and State highways, were lost in the fire accident.

High-level inquiry

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu alleged that YSRCP leaders had a hand in the fire incident and immediately ordered a high-level inquiry led by the Director General of Police (DGP) Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, CID chief Ravi Shankar Ayyannar and other senior officials such as the Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad and Intelligence chief Mahesh Chandra Laddha.

DGP Tirumala Rao, after inspecting the site, said that there are indications that the fire was man-made and might have been started with a “deceptive intention”.

22-A records

The issue of 22-A is now a raging subject and Mr. Naidu himself stated in his White Paper on land scams that the earlier YSRCP government had indulged in huge land scams by manipulating the 22-A records, which has always been a subject of controversy in the Revenue land records. He had stated that the YSRCP had tried to convert over 9 lakh acres of land under 22-A to a freehold section to grab the chunks of land spread across the State.

Refuting the allegations, almost all YSRCP leaders have insisted on proof to be presented before the public.

However, the Madanapalle fire incident was not just a stray incident. Earlier, in the first week of the same month, the Penamaluru police in Krishna district took three persons into custody for reportedly setting files belonging to the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) on fire. Investigation is on.

As recently as on August 17, close to about 100 photocopies pertaining to the Polavaram Irrigation Project were set on fire by the office sweepers at the Polavaram Project Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) office at Dowleswaram near Rajamahendravaram of East Godavari district and district Collector has ordered an inquiry into the issue.

Similarly, on August 17 itself, a fire broke out in the Deputy Engineers’ office building of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) administrative complex. The fire reportedly destroyed files pertaining to TTD’s engineering works undertaken in about 13 temples across South India. Though the initial reports suggest that the fire erupted from a ceremonial lamp that is used for daily puja, various angles are being investigated by the TTD officials.

The sudden spurt of fire accidents at Government offices and files being destroyed has stirred up a hornets’ nest. Questions from the public about why this is happening and the safety and protocol of storage facilities, have come to the fore.

Copies at Tahsildar office

As per a former senior officer from the Revenue Department, all records pertaining to land registrations present in the Revenue Department or District Collector offices will have a copy in the Department of Stamps and Registration or Tahsildar’s office in the districts. So even if the documents at the Revenue offices a destroyed, a copy will be available with the Tahsildar’s office for reference.

Moreover, most of the files and land-holding records have been digitised and stored at the main server in NIC (National Information Centre).

Rural land records

However, the problem lies with agriculture and land records in the rural areas. There may be a problem of finding any copy if they are not uploaded in the NIC. Many transactions happen in rural areas, especially within the farming community, where the deals are done on a trust basis and only on stamp papers and are not officially registered. The only way to find a solution to a land dispute in such cases is by physical survey and circumstantial evidence, which means, the neighbours or the local residents have to testify, he said.

[Joker_007]

YCP folks found that they would be safe if they burn these files.. ( Nellore Incident is the Inspiration).